Hertz IPO seen helping liquidity at Ford

SteveGelsi

The Kansas City, Mo., pork producer
PORK
opened at $12.50 a share, flat with the IPO price. The stock closed off 15 cents at $12.35.

Signs of a muted debut came as Premium Standard priced at the bottom of its range of $12.50 to $13.50 a share. That range had been cut from an earlier level of $15 to $17 a share.

The company also trimmed the size of the IPO to 9.8 million shares from 12.5 million.

Marsh & McLennan's
MMC, +0.11%
Putnam unit owned about 5.5 million shares in the IPO and Morgan Stanley
MWD, -1.04%
owned about 2.2 million shares as the largest inside shareholders in the IPO.

Selling shareholders offered all the 9.84 million shares. The company itself did not receive any proceeds from this offering

Hertz IPO draws praise

Dominion Bond Rating Service on Tuesday said it doesn't see any rating implications for Ford Motor Co.
F, -1.26%
following the filing of the $100 million initial public offering for car rental firm Hertz. See full story.

Hertz declared a $1.2 billion dividend in the form of an inter-company note.

Hertz will use IPO proceeds to pay the note. The bond service said it already expected the moves, which it said would add to Ford's "very strong liquidity position once the note is repaid."

Lazard draws analyst coverage after IPO

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an overweight rating and a $27 price target.

The investment bank's "attractive potential upside compensates for higher risk," Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.

Goldman Sachs said, "We believe the shares can return 22-28% in the intermediate term based on their current attractive valuation ... [and] strong earnings growth."

Goldman, Morgan Stanley and CS First Boston all worked on the underwriting team for the bank's IPO.

Lazard shares closed up 4.3% at $23.10.

Capital Maritime & Trading files IPO

Capital Maritime & Trading Corp., an Athens shipping firm, late Monday filed to raise about $250 million in an IPO via underwriters Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns and Jefferies & Co. The operator of 26 tankers plans to offer 16.7 million shares at $14 to $16 each and trade under the symbol CPM on the New York Stock Exchange.

Focus Media Holding Ltd. files IPO

Focus Media Holding Ltd. on Tuesday filed to raise as much as $100 million in an IPO via underwriters Goldman Sachs (Asia) and CS First Boston.

The Shanghai firm operates the largest out-of-home advertising network in China using audio-visual TV displays instead of traditional billboards to broadcast advertising. As of March, its network covered 70% of commercial buildings surveyed in 13 cities across China.

The company plans to trade American depositary receipts on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FMCN.

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